What is The Optimist?

The Optimist (formerly Ode magazine) is an independent media initiative focused on solutions and possibility. We are committed to solutions journalism. We point the way to answers for the challenges humanity and the planet face. We offer news that's actually new. We present intelligent optimism as the most effective, efficient—and scientifically proven—strategy to support creativity, innovation, health and happiness.

What we offer ?

The Optimist Daily: Our selection of the solutions news from around the world is curated by our editorial team. The Optimist Daily is published as a "web app" that adjusts to the size of your computer, tablet or smart phone screen.

What we offer ?

The Optimist: Published 4 times a year, our magazine contains long features, interviews and profiles about the people and ideas that are changing the world. When you read The Optimist, you know why print magazines and books will never disappear (though we have a digital edition nonetheless).

What we offer ?

The Optimist Live: Our readers want to connect with the people behind many of the stories we publish. That's why we organize online events and courses through The Optimist Live. These sessions offer readers and users an interactive and extensive learning experience, connecting them to pioneers of possibility, creators of innovation and problem-solvers.

Sample stories

"I don't believe in diets"

Many pages into writing his new book, Kris Verburgh realized the truth. Darn it, he was writing a diet book! This was from someone who dislikes diet books. "I don’t believe in diets," he says. "I'm not a fan of them. Most diets are unhealthy." And he’s suspicious of the motives of many authors of diet books: write a bestseller, sell products, get rich.

"Talking is very primitive"

Futurist Jose Cordeiro foresees speech being replaced by brain-to-brain-transmissions. What's wrong with talking?
"It's a very primitive technology. It's inefficient, slow and narrow bandwith."Er, are we talking about talking?
"Yes. I speak to you word by word and you have to listen to me word by word. Meanwhile, you cannot answer immediately."

Optimism: There's always a way

In high school, my week revolved around the field hockey game on Saturday. Back then, we still played on regular grass. Hence as the week progressed, a striking parallel arose between my mood and darkening skies. Too much rain would force the game to be cancelled, which routinely happened in the fall and winter. My grumbling started well in advance. If it were raining cats and dogs on a Friday afternoon, my dear mother would try to cheer me up by looking out the window and pointing at a random piece of sky. "Look," she'd exclaim, "it's already clearing up over there!"

Innocent

In his daily life, John Wareham coaches some of the most successful and wealthy people. With his neatly combed, thick white hair, his bespoke suit and professorial glasses, you'd never expect him to spend his free time at a prison. And yet for the past 18 years, the psychologist and author of several novels and self-help books has been going to the heavily guarded prisons of New York, like Rikers Island, every week.

Who are we?

We are a multinational team building bridges between today's problems and tomorrow's solutions. We launched in 1995 in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. In 2004, we established ourselves in San Francisco, California. We are united in our passion for new solutions and opportunities. Our 15 team members work from offices in the United States, the Netherlands, France, Zambia, Guatemala and Canada, and between us we have travelled to many countries around the world. We are women and men, writers, designers, translators and ambassadors. We have organized ourselves according to the rules of the emerging new economy, with laptops, Skype and Hangouts and without soul-squelching hierarchies. We travel the world, committed to our joint mission with autonomy, independence and adaptability. Our work is where we are and who we are. That's because our work is not just our work but our lives. And because we like building bridges.